Eric James Stillings

Eric James Stillings passed away on September 21, 2026, at the age of 57. He was born in Litchfield, MN on December 8, 1968, to Lynette Howk and Robert “Bob” Stillings.

Eric graduated from Litchfield High School in 1986 and worked in the plastics industry after attending school at Pine City Technical College for gun smithing. He married Lori Gray on July 18, 1992, and together they raised 2 wonderfully fantastic and beautiful daughters, the magnificent Hailey and the incandescent Hannah.

Eric was an avid outdoorsman and loved to share his knowledge about fishing and hunting with all who would listen. He taught many of us how to track deer and how to clean them, but we relied on him to do the heavy stuff. However, if there was a particularly smelly hunt it was his incredibly strong stomached sister who would step in to take his place. As much as he loved hunting, fishing was his real passion, and he loved to spend time with his daughters, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews on the lake wetting a line and baiting hooks.

He was also incredibly knowledgeable on so many topics and loved to watch war documentaries and share the facts he had learned. Hailey developed her love for horror movies with Eric by her side and Hannah inherited his interest in war movies. The musical information that he had in his brain was mind boggling and he often would mention a new band or genre that you had to listen to. It was fun to discover music with him and go to concerts.

After a long battle with heart disease and diabetes, he finally received a kidney. However, his heart was not strong enough and after a month of complications it finally gave up. He passed away surrounded by family and words cannot express how much he will be missed.

Eric is survived by his mother Lynette Howk; father Bob (Jeana) Stillings; sister Chureen (Ryan) Abrahamson; daughters Hailey (Jeremy Cox) Stillings and Hannah (Trevor) Richmond; grandchildren Eli Stillings, Briar and Aislynn Richmond; nieces and nephews Conor (Kenzie and Cooper), Ciara, Ronan and Sadie Abrahamson; and many more family and friends.  He was preceded in death by grandparents Lowell and Muriel Howk, Harlow and Ruth Stillings; uncles Dennis Stillings, John Stillings, and Darwin Hoeft; aunts Nancy Howk, Vicki Hoeft and Marilyn Stillings; and cousins Rachel Howk and Josh Stillings.

A celebration of life will be held October 11, 1-4pm at the Abrahamson garage condo (944 McKinley Parkway Unit 114, Delano, MN 55328). Feel free to wear your favorite band t-shirt and bring a story to share. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Diabetes Action Research and Education Foundation at www.daref.org or the memorial fund.

Rock on and see you at the fishing hole!